Prep football: San Marin extends its season with win against St. Helena

ST. HELENA — San Marin High coach Dan Hickey made it known weeks ago that this would be his final season with the team. But his players are in no hurry to let him go.

San Marin, despite just a No. 10 seed in the North Coast Section Division IV playoffs, advanced to the championship game with a 32-26 victory over St. Helena on Saturday night. As a result, the Mustangs will give Hickey one last chance for glory when they take on top-seeded Justin-Siena for the title on Friday night.

"It's amazing," Hickey said after his team's fourth consecutive victory. "We got out to a pretty good start today but then we made it kind of hectic on ourselves. I think they have a vendetta against the coaches."

What San Marin has shown in recent weeks is that it has survival skills. Each of the past four games could have meant the end to the season. But the Mustangs just won't go down quietly.

"I don't think really anybody could have expected this," said San Marin quarterback Manny Wilkins of his team turning a 3-6 start into a title game appearance. "This is a great stepping point in San Marin football and a great stepping point for San Marin as a school. It's a good thing that we're doing this right now and it's overwhelming."

Early in the game Saturday, it appeared the Mustangs might be overwhelmed themselves by sixth-seeded St. Helena. The Saints (11-2) forced San Marin to punt after its first three plays and led 6-0 after the first quarter.

But San Marin didn't stay quiet, rolling up 20 points in the second quarter to take a halftime lead. The Mustangs got a few big plays in that period, including a 35-yard scramble for a touchdown from Wilkins on which teammate David Marinoff leveled a potential tackler with a block and a 66-yard pass to Marinoff which set up Marinoff for a 1-yard touchdown plunge.

"It's always your job to protect your quarterback," Marinoff said of his block. "If someone is running full speed for your quarterback, all you want to do is plant him. It felt really good to get that block."

In the second half, San Marin extended its lead to 26-13 early in the third quarter when Wilkins connected with Kaden Svahlin for a 77-yard touchdown pass. After that, it was a matter of the Mustangs (7-6) keeping St. Helena from catching up. And when D'andre Wright plowed into the end zone from 2 yards out for his second touchdown of the game midway through the fourth quarter, San Marin's 32-20 lead was more than St. Helena could overcome.

"All the touchdowns I made, it was the linemen," Wright said. "They're working their hardest. I was just trying to punch through as hard as I could no matter what."

Now, San Marin will see if it has enough to punch its way to an NCS title.

"You have to credit those kids for what they did," St. Helena coach Brandon Farrell said.